Barack Obama got a boost from a major-college basketball coach in Oregon on Friday, but it's the coach who may need help come November.

Craig Robinson is Oregon State's new coach and the brother of Obama's wife, Michelle. He introduced his brother-in-law to more than 2,000 people at a campaign event in Albany, Ore., winning loud applause _ a sound he might not hear often this season.

Robinson, a star player at Princeton, faces a huge rebuilding task. The Beavers went 0-18 in the powerful Pac-10 Conference last year, and their coach was fired in midseason.

As for helping his kinsman, Robinson's clout appears limited. He was Brown University's head coach earlier this year when Hillary Rodham Clinton beat Obama in the Rhode Island primary. In Oregon, Obama is riding high in the polls, a spot that Robinson may envy in a few months.

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By Charles Babington.